Because golfers want to avoid placing their golf bag on the ground, efforts have been made to develop low cost, lightweight attachments for supporting a golf bag in an upright position, By this means, selected clubs can be easily removed and replaced during play, while permitting the golf bag to be carried by the over-the-shoulder strap.
In the past, a number of devices have been developed that employ a retractable, ground engaging spike which, when driven into the ground, stabilizes the golf bag in its upright position. Basically, such devices employ a spring loaded spike slidably engaged in a tubular housing to be driven into the ground by downward pressure on a foot pedal as descibed in connection with an initial version disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,540 issued to Edwin George on Sep. 7, 1971, wherein a collar and strap arrangement was secured at the upper end of the tubular housing to engage the top of the bag. A somewhat improved version, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,221 issued to Vincent P. Schmidt on May 30, 1972, employed a telescoping tubular support that was adjustable in length to match the height of different golf bags with an end hook at the upper end that fit into the upper open end of the bag, and a support plate affixed at the lower end of the housing extended outwardly to engage the bottom of the bag.
However, in these earlier designs, the foot pedal was attached to the spike through an elongated slot in the tubular housing. The natural tendency was for the user to place his weight on the foot pedal driving it down until it stopped by contact against the bottom edge of the slot. The downward force exerted on the housing at that point pulled downwardly on the housing body and on the attached end hook strap attachment, thus pulling the bag off vertical and making it difficult to maintain an upright position, particularly in loose or wet soil. Thus the user had to exercise care in not overdriving the spike into the ground which could be an annoying inconvenience. Moreover, the bottom edge of the elongated slot could act as a shear gradually cutting into the abutting foot pedal attachment with repeated use to weaken and eventually separate it from the spike.
In addition, the straight pin design of the spike often provided insufficient lateral support which necessitated use of a substantial base plate that added significantly to the cost and weight of the device.
In an effort to avoid these problems, a more recent design, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,884 issued to A. Phillip Parduhn on Sep. 8, 1987 incorporates a winged spike configuration to enhance the ground gripping capabilities of the spike as well as the structural integrity of the pedal attached. In this design, the wing section extends outwardly through an open-ended longitudinal slot that terminates at the lower end of the tubular housing which is secured to a base plate support member. However, although the wing shaped spike provides more stable support, it is also quite a bit more difficult to engage and disengage, particularly in firmly packed soil. Since, during a typical round of golf, the spike will be operated scores of times, the increased difficulty involved in disengaging the spike can become tiresome and annoying. Moreover the increased force needed to extricate the winged spike is transmitted through the housing to the hook at the upper end of the bag causing unsightly wear and possibly tearing of the fabric.
All previous designs have never resolved the problem of the hook on the housing body sliding around the circumference of the golf bag. Heretofore, all hooks were designed to just lay over the rim of the bag. As the hook slides around, the housing body would lose its vertical position, so the golfer had to straighten the housing body each time he used the support device. This problem is aggravated by the fact that bags are produced with varying rim thickness.
Finally, a major problem of all prior golf bag support devices using a retractable spike involves the spike becoming clogged with dirt or mud during the course of play which would jam the spike inside the outer housing and render the support device useless.